Cleveland's Short.Sweet.Film Fest Returns this Weekend

A few years ago, local film aficionados Michael Suglio and Alex Pavloff were watching a few bands play at Now That's Class when they realized that hosting a film festival in an informal, club-like atmosphere was a good idea. In 2012, the two successfully launched their Short.Sweet.Film Fest at Ohio City's Market Garden Brewery. The festival has become an annual tradition.

From noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and from noon to 11 p.m. on Sunday, Suglio returns to the venue with 43 shorts that he'll screen over the two-day period (you can find a complete schedule at shortsweetfilmfest.com). Bands will perform during intermissions and a mini-music festival follows the Sunday screenings. Once again, many of the directors will be on hand to answer questions after their films screen.
“We have 15 films where either a director, a crew member, a cast member or — in one case, a lead guitarist — will be there,” he says.

Two judges will rate the movies and award prizes for the best films in a variety of categories, ranging from "best local film" to "best animation" and “best student film.” This year, Suglio received 120 submissions and picked the best to show at the festival. One of the highlights is Project 5: When I Hear Music.
“In the ’80s, [councilman] Matthew Zone had a hip-hop dance troupe and they were a premier dance group in Cleveland,” says Suglio. “The film talks about what they did and goes into their reunion event. It’s about the process of getting back into shape. It’s cool because you learn a bit about Cleveland history.”
Another highlight is a music video by Palms, a band that features Chino from the Deftones as well as guitarist Bryant Meyers, who was in Isis.

“[Local director] Jon Mancinetti made this video for ‘Rogue Warrior’ and it’s a great video,” Suglio says.
Several bands will play at the end of the festival, signaling the kind of artistic synergy that Suglio hopes his film festival cultivates.

“We wanted to bring in some other artistic element to have more collaboration going on,” he says.